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NEDA

The 2014 NEDAwareness Week runs from February 23rd-March 1st this year. NEDA (National Eating Disorders Association) has a yearly initiative to raise awareness of eating disorders, and increasingly uses social media as a tool to do so. The theme of 2014’s week is “I Had No Idea”, focusing on ending on misconceptions surrounding these disorders. The key messages this year are:

Eating disorders are serious illnesses, not lifestyle choices.

Education, early intervention, and access to care are critical.

Help is available, and recovery is possible.

NEDA is asking everyone to do one thing this year to dispel a misconception about eating disorders, with a huge range of ways to get involved, from putting up posters and distributing pamphlets to hosting an info session or serving as a speaker. NEDA also offers infographics and images to post on Facebook and Twitter. Additionally, NEDA is using the hashtag #adiosED to promote awareness on Twitter, and #capturehope on Instagram.

Promoting understanding is one of NEDA’s strongpoints. A variety of articles on the NEDAwareness website is available, with viewpoints from different genders, ages, races and socioeconomic statuses.

I’ve been searching the tags “pro-ana”, “pro-mia”, and “NEDAwareness” on Tumblr for the past few days and have put out a call for submissions about how the site has affected users’ perception of ED’s and if it has influenced their illness at all. Once I compile a good amount of submissions, I will post highlights at the end of NEDAwareness Week.

Whether it be participating in a NEDA Walk, blogging about eating disorders, participating in the Twitter and Instagram campaigns, or raising awareness in your community, everyone can be a part of saving a life. The link below has just several ideas and I encourage you to try one, or come up with your own way to spread awareness and break down misconceptions.